Nearly one in five new fathers in Japan takes child-care leave, which is a record high, but still far short of the target set by the government.

The labor ministry released on Monday the results of its annual survey conducted last October.

The survey found that more than 17 percent of eligible working men took paternity leave in the last fiscal year, up about 3 percentage points from a year earlier. But that figure is not even halfway to the government's goal of 50 percent by 2025. The figure for women taking childcare leave dropped nearly 5 points, to about 80 percent.

The labor ministry data also shows Japan's percentage of female corporate managers has risen. But it's the lowest among the Group of Seven nations.

The survey covered more than 3,000 firms with 10 or more employees. It found that women accounted for 12.7 percent of managerial positions as of October last year. That's up 0.4 percentage points from the previous year to its highest level since the current survey method was introduced in fiscal 2009. The percentage has risen only 2.5 points since then.

An expert on women's work issues says male participation in child-rearing affects the ratio of women in senior positions.

Tanaka Miwa, Co-CEO of Waris said, "It's important that as more couples choose to work and raise children together as one team, the more women will aim for managerial positions."

Tanaka notes Japan's working population is shrinking. She says it's important for companies to retain staff by creating an environment that offers work-life balance.